Not long ago, few people would go to a theme park for the food. But in recent years, Disney World has expanded its culinary highlights far beyond turkey legs and Dole Whip. Brand new restaurants and lounges are popping up like daisies, food festivals fill the calendar, and a small army of celebrity chefs now holds court at Disney Springs. And there are a dizzying number of new ways for theme park-goers to double down on dining, from food tours to chef’s tasting menus and other ticketed events.

“There’s no doubt that food is as important to a Disney vacation as our entertainment,” says Paul Oppedisano, Vice President of Premium Services at Disney World, whose team recently launched the Crown Collection by Disney, an array of add-on experiences aimed at turning theme park trips into gourmet getaways.

Whether you’re looking to have one truly memorable meal, or tack on something extravagant where the sky (and the price tag) is the limit, here are all the new ways to incorporate next-level dining into your Disney World trip.

The best of Disney Springs

The easiest place to get a great meal at Disney, without any pre-planning, is to head straight to Disney Springs, where food trucks sit alongside James Beard Award winners.

For food and wine that’s as unpretentious as it is unforgettable, stop by Wine Bar George, where master sommelier George Miliotes serves over 140 kinds of wine by the ounce, glass, or bottle. You can’t go wrong with “the big board” of six artisanal cheeses, five meats, and an assortment of bread and condiments, followed by a family-style plate of tender Argentinian skirt steak served with chimichurri, grilled asparagus, and roasted potatoes. Your sommelier—often the disarmingly approachable Miliotes—might stop by to offer a straightforward explanation for why the Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino is the ideal accompaniment for the skirt steak. “What grows together goes together,” says Miliotes with a smile and a shrug. Count on about $70 per person before wine, tax, and tip.

A few hundred yards away at Jaleo, you can take a culinary tour of Spain with James Beard Foundation Award-winner and humanitarian José Andrés. The sampler menus are an excellent way to go: a tapas selection for $70 per person and “Jose’s Way,” a selection of tapas and plates for $110 per person. Everything goes down better with the Salt Air Margarita, a balanced cocktail topped with a dollop of salty foam that will transport you straight to the beach.

A food tour of Magic Kingdom’s biggest hits

Offered five days a week, the Taste of the Magic Kingdom Park VIP tour is a new small-group guided tasting tour for $99 per person—and has been an instant hit. “This three-hour experience also gives you access to backstage kitchens and working areas never seen by guests before,” says Michelle Allen, owner of Travel Magic, an authorized Disney travel agency.

Be sure to arrive hungry, since you’ll be sampling the most iconic food items in the Magic Kingdom, from the much-Instagrammed jumbo turkey leg, buffalo chicken spring roll, and famous “gray stuff” from Beauty and the Beast, to the pineapple-flavored soft-serve Dole Whip frozen treat.

Dinner with a view

Are the Magic Kingdom fireworks at the top of your to-do list? Sip, Savor, and Sparkle is a classy light-dining event at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which includes hors d’oeuvres and small plates, a nice selection of complimentary alcoholic libations, and admission to “Celebration at the Top,” a fireworks-viewing special event, for $110 per person, held on a private observation deck at the California Grill.

A Disney restaurant crawl

Priced at $170 a head, Highway in the Sky Dine Around is a grown-up culinary outing that takes place along the monorail line over an entire evening. “This is Disney’s take on a pub crawl for restaurants,” says Len Testa, founder of Touring Plans, an app and website that cuts down on wait times at attractions by mapping out the most efficient route. “It’s a good introduction to several of the Magic Kingdom area’s better restaurants and lounges, without you having to make separate reservations for each one.”

The evening begins with a check-in at Disney’s Contemporary Resort for an appetizer and specialty cocktail, followed by stops at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian resorts for more drinks and small plates. Later, you’re whisked back to the Contemporary for dessert, cordials, and coffee at a private fireworks-viewing party. “People absolutely love this experience,” Allen says.

Dine with giraffes, zebras, and more

Wanyama Safari and Dinner at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge runs from late afternoon into evening, beginning with pre-safari reception inside Jiko’s wine room. After a 90-minute guided wildlife tour of the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s African savannah, you return to the lodge for dinner at the wildly popular Jiko.

“This experience really shows off the strengths of Animal Kingdom Lodge,” says Testa. “First, the hotel is unique in that it’s got live animals such as giraffes, zebras, ostriches and okapis roaming the savannah near the guest rooms. Second, Jiko is rated the number two restaurant in Walt Disney World; only the super-deluxe and super expensive Victoria & Albert’s gets better ratings.”

The entire thing costs $209 per person, including taxes and gratuity. “Because you’ll be outside in dress clothes for more than an hour, I’d recommend this during spring or fall, when the afternoon temperatures aren’t quite so hot,” says Testa.

The Chef's Table at Victoria and Albert's.

Courtesy Walt Disney Parks

The best table of them all

Booked solid six months in advance, Victoria & Albert’s is the much-accoladed restaurant at the Grand Floridian with nearly two decades of AAA Five Diamond Awards under its belt. Here, in the fanciest of all Disney restaurants, the most exclusive table is hidden away in the kitchen.

Seating between two and eight people, the three-hour Chef’s Table meal costs $250 per person, plus an optional $150 per person if you’d like wine pairings. Chef de Cuisine Aimee Rivera and her team prepares a special tasting menu, for an extremely intimate, personalized dinner that offers the chance to engage with Disney’s culinary A-team. Reserve up to six months ahead.

How to nab a golden ticket

There are only two ways to dine at Markham’s, the exclusive restaurant at the Summerhouse private clubhouse inside the gates of Disney World. The first is to own a home in the luxurious and exclusive Golden Oak enclave, where the average property costs a cool $3.2 million. The other way into Markham’s is to sign up for one of the $349-a-head dinners in the Delicious Disney series. Once a month, one superstar chef and a hand-picked culinary team is given creative carte blanche to create a six-course tour de force complete with a fine wines and over-the-top dessert masterpieces.

While chef Dominique Filoni is best known for wowing diners at Citricos, he and his team recently paid homage to the animated film Ratatouille. His French-themed extravaganza began with a delectable mushroom-and-cheese amuse-bouche and ended several hours later with an 8-inch-tall chocolate sculpture crafted in the spitting image of the film’s star, Remy, unmistakable from his teeny toque and oversized front teeth right down to his tail.

There are two Delicious Disney doubleheaders scheduled this summer. On June 24 and 25, chef Frank Brough of Disney’s Contemporary Resort will lead a 25th anniversary celebration of The Lion King with a culinary journey to the African savannah. Then, on July 29 and 30, Albert Youngman, the Culinary Director of Epcot, will treat diners to a delicious, globe-hopping tour of the most iconic dishes from each of the Epcot festivals.

What’s next

Beginning this August in the Magic Kingdom, the new Signature Celebration Package will include a trio of experiences fit for a princess: character dining at Cinderella’s Royal Table inside Cinderella Castle, followed by priority fireworks-viewing, and a dessert party on Tomorrowland Terrace.

And when the new Disney’s Riviera Resort opens this fall, food lovers will flock to the much-anticipated rooftop bar, Topolino’s Terrace, for a signature “Flavors of the Riviera” meal featuring regional dishes of the Italian and French rivieras.